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One dis-recommendation: don't lower the amount of money for the win condition. The game advances through phases from initial building (limited range) to networking to running those few big deals that are finally possible late in the game. By reducing the win condition you'd be cutting out that last phase and that can be a lot of fun.
Tested ...

The answer to this depends a lot on why the game is taking you so long to play. We had been suffering from the same problem, and the main reason is because we have one player who is just an incredibly slow thinker. He often took over 15 minutes just to make one move.
Over time, we made a lot of small changes to the game to reduce the amount of information ...

We own several versions and editions of the crayon rail games in my house. In each one that we have, there is a "Variants" section of the rules. One of the variants we always play with is the fast game. It has 5 main effects that I can think of offhand:
Increases starting cash by $20
Adds one additional pre-movement turn
Gives you 5 initial demand ...

There doesn't seem to be any information about why the FAQ is being hosted at the fan site, and not at Mayfair Games itself, but there are several circumstantial pieces of evidence.
Mayfair Games don't have a FAQ for Empire Builder.
Mayfair Games links to the fan site (implying endorsement) from their official Empire Builder page.
That site is also the ...

This isn't really a house rule per se, but it's especially helpful in speeding up the game when playing on a new board (or unfamiliar one).
Whenever a new demand card is drawn, read off and find all of the cities as quickly as possible. Everyone "competes" to find and point out each city first. This helps everyone learn the map better, as well as whomever ...

I found Crayola brand washable crayons to work the best. For the lack of boldness I subbed brown for yellow, purple for orange. I bought both Empire Builder and Empire Express straight from Mayfair but got different crayons with each. Express came with no-name crayons that leave a slight stain on the board.

Your best bet is to take the map to a map or printing shop, laminate it properly, and use overhead pens. Or to use clear laminate purchased in rolls at a home-decorating or home improvement shop.
Now, I used china markers on a couple crayon maps in the past, and even they don't erase completely cleanly from all "factory laminated" boards.
Another good ...

I don't think you will get a definitive answer, but probably just lots of suggestions. There has been.discussion about this question before on BGG. You are going to get a range of answers:
Crayola Washable Crayons.
China Markers.
Dry Erase Markers
Wet Erase Markers.
Standard Crayola Crayons

Untested, but I don't think it would be too disastrous: increase the speed of the trains. Instead of 9 and 12, try 12 and 15.
The idea is that you'll get where you are going in less turns, so your game should take less turns.
Possible problems: You might not be able to build track at the beginning fast enough to keep your train in motion. If a bridge ...